This story has been updated from a previous version and clarifies that, while the woman was pronounced dead on Monday, it’s unclear when the accident occurred.

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — The body of a Northern Nevada woman who had been missing for two weeks was found Monday inside a vehicle that skidded off the highway and flipped down an embankment near Lake Tahoe's East Shore, officials said.

A photographer was shooting photos of Lake Tahoe at dusk Monday when he noticed the upside-down vehicle partly covered in snow in the trees below Highway 28 near Sand Harbor State Park, Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Duncan Dauber said Tuesday.

NHP was dispatched to the scene at 4:56 p.m. Monday. Officials determined the vehicle — a 2000 green Subaru Outback driven by Betti Jean Fernandes, 72, of Sparks — was traveling southbound on Highway 28 when it "drifted off the right paved shoulder down an embankment and overturned" before landing on its roof about 50 to 100 feet below.

Fernandes, the vehicle's lone occupant, was pronounced dead at the scene Monday. According to NHP, she was not wearing a seat belt.

"It is still under investigation, per the Washoe County Coroner's Office … whether it was a medical issue or injuries incurred during the course of the crash that caused Fernandes to pass," officials said.

According to the Sparks Police Department, Fernandes had been reported missing since Nov. 30.

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It's unclear when the crash occurred, although officials believe it likely occurred not long after — perhaps even before — she was reported missing.

"We don't know when the accident happened … it appears that the crash happened prior to there being snowfall," Dauber said Tuesday.

The southbound travel lane of 28 was shut down for several hours while NHP and North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District officials investigated the scene.

Editor’s Note

This story has been updated from a previous version and clarifies that, while the woman was pronounced dead on Monday, it’s unclear when the accident occurred.